Poor water pressure

[alfier]

After my daughter had her flat re-furbished i.e replacement bath room and new En-suite she now finds that the water pressure out of the taps is low and very low (Not useable) out of the mixer shower. It was re plumbed with plastic pipe and joints. I've measured the pressure at the stopcock in the landing and it's 1.5BAR.

As the floors were relaid in Bamboo in the lounge etc and tiles on top of underfloor heating in the bathroom/en-suite I have no access to the new pipes. Do any of you clever people know how I can check the pipes from the stop-cock to the taps without access to them and if one has a partial blockage is there any way to clear it.

One of her fiends said that putting in plastic pipes is bad as it drastically reduces the water pressure, is that true?

Alfie

 

[GPlumb]

Plastic pipes do nothing to alter water pressure, bad plumbing might.

Can you measure the pressure just before it goes into a tap?

 

[seco services]

what has low pressure hot/cold or both ?
what is the hot gravity/mains pressure ?
need more info.

as for plastic reducing the pressure

where did they learn that ?

 

[alfier]

Thank god it's not the plastic piping!
It's the cold and the hot even the cold to the electric shower is poor,
The flat is fed by a single pipe from the stopcock (1.5 Bar) which them feeds all the cold and the Combi Boiler.
Alfie

 

[seco services]

you'll need to check the pressure further along the pipework then.

as 1.5bar to a electric shower is ideal and taps etc.
so unless theirs another isolation valve or stopcock thats not fully open everything should be working.

 

[alfier]

Ok thanks for that. I'm sure the pressure is low in all the flats outlets although I only have access to the taps. As I said no pipes are visable after the stopcock as all under the new flooring. So is there any way I can check the new plastic flat pipes out? Maybe a bit of something is blocking the main pipe before it splits to the various outlets. Any ideas that don't involve ripping up a new EXPENSIVE floor?
Alfie

 

[seco services]

bit hard without seeing the situation.

can you disconnect one of the cold taps and do a pressure check.
as the hot will go through the combi but cold is direct from the mains.

 

[BigBurner]

What are the other flats like?

 

[alfier]

Most ok theses flats came from a 1980's office conversion (not very well done) but I had the input to my daughters flat rerouted directly to the Thames water input in the flats utility room so its a direct link that is giving us 1,5 Bar at the stopcock on the landing that turns off the water only to her flat, As I said the entire flat was re plumbed so the only old bit of copper pipe is from the stopcock under the landing into the flat. Does that help?